It's interesting that this film is the launching pad for two of the greatest and most invaluable Ozu resources in the world: peerpee's website and MEK's walking encyclopedia.

peerpee was one of my mentors.

I can see some similarities between the mentor and the mentee, especially in the usage of humor, although the mentor's approach sometimes is more elliptical than the mentee's. But, as we know, Ozu loved elliptical narrative. So, ...

The 14-minute runtime for Tokkan Kozo implies it's the older version which has already been released on DVD rather than the recently re-discovered, almost complete, version. The Japanese wikipedia article implies this version should be run at 18fps rather than 24 so should end up closer to 18 mins rather than 14. Although there's not a runtime given for the more recently found version, newspaper articles imply it's close to the original runtime of 38mins.

edit: Kyoto International Film Festival, which screened the newly-discovered print, give the new runtime as 19 mins at an unspecified frame rate, so perhaps not that complete after all. It seems to include title cards which the older print didn't. edit 2: YouTube sample of the newer print showing the original title screen c/w the blu-ray.com screenshot showing the older copy's 'created' title screen.

Last edited by kindaikun on Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

What was recently discovered was not the complete Tokkan kozo -- but rather the complete home movie version of this film (which was only about half the length of the full film -- and only 12.5 mm format or something of the sort).

Any word yet of how the quality is for I Was Born, But? I haven't seen it addressed anywhere how the quality is, if it's a new restoration etc.

I presume it's the same source as the Eclipse/BFI releases since there hasn't been any mention of finding a better print than what's been used. Also, the Criterion specs don't list "I Was Born" as new restoration. My guess is that it'll have slight improvements due to a higher bit rate and larger resolution.

It looks okay. I don't have the Eclipse set so can't compare. Damage is about what I expected (tram lines, dirt, missing frames, burns). It's in 1080p but there's heavy macroblocking and jagged edges on curved objects.

Just saw your Criterion review - a shame about that transfer for I Was Born, But..., but at least it's not worse than the previous DVD (at least I hope).

They may be pushing it with the black levels again, at least to me, and while I'm not crazy about the color (look at that sky), I actually like it more than what's been done on the other DVD and BD releases out there.

It's just plain piano doodling (not sure if it's a keyboard or an actual piano). I'm not a fan of Sosin; I understand that he is trying not to dramatize the images too much, but mostly I find his scores to be so subtle and forgettable that they end up being slightly annoying, just the opposite of what he is aiming for.